16x02 - Straight Razors/Black Pudding/Steering Wheels/Inorganic Pigments

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: in a world dominated
by high-tech gadgetry,

The low-tech straight razor
still gets a lot of face time.

It can be reused endlessly,
and it has a traditional appeal,

One that actually dates back
to ancient egypt,

When there were straight razors
made of solid gold.

Shaving with an unguarded
super-sharp knife

Has always been
for the tough guys.

To use it, a man needs a steady
hand and steely concentration.

Production begins with steel
cylinders heated in a furnace

Until they're
soft and malleable.

A forging hammer then pounds
the cylinders into dies

To shape them.

A punch cutter trims the edges

And cuts the shape
into two blades.

From a steel rod to a flat,
razor shape in just a few steps.

The straight razors are then fed
to another die one at a time.

A wade forces the razor
into the die,

A process
which both improves the shape

And condenses the metal
to strengthen it.

Next, a worker dips a rack
of about 50 blades

In graphite powder,
followed by molten lead.

The lead adds more strength
to the steel.

He knocks off the lead,

Which slides off easily because
of the graphite undercoat.

The razor blades catch fire

As he immerses them in oil
to cool them.

He transfers the blades
to a sieve

And tosses saw dust into it.

The saw dust soaks up the oil
and graphite residue.

Then he shakes the sieve
to sift it out.

After a hardening treatment,

It's into an oven
to bake slowly.

This gets rid of brittleness
and relieves internal stresses.

A technician
then scrutinizes the razor

To confirm that it's straight.

If it's not,
he hammers it straighter.

Another worker grinds the blade,

Angling it down
to the cutting edge

Using a series
of abrasive wheels.

He tests the edge
against a thick metal band.

It needs to be as thin
as aluminum foil

And strong, yet flexible.

The next worker brushes
asphalt lacquer

Onto the blade and upper part
of the handle, or tang.

This coating prepares
the surface for laser-etching.

It allows
the computerized laser beam

To cut cleanly into the metal

With no bleeding
around the edges...

...so the trademark insignia
and art look crisp.

She paints a little more lacquer
around the etching

To prepare the blade for
the next step -- gold-plating.

She dips the blade
in a mix of water and gold

And runs a current of
electricity through the mix.

This causes the gold
to gravitate

To the exposed, un-lacquered
section of the blade

And adhere to it.

The lacquer has served
its purpose,

And she now cleans it off
in a chemical bath

To reveal
the now-glossy, two-toned blade.

Next, she sandwiches
the tang of the razor blade

Between two plastic parts
of the handle,

Using a long pin
to hold everything together.

She then shortens the pin,
caps it,

And hammers the cap down
to secure it.

She now tests the installation.

The next worker grinds
the entire blade

Against a slightly concave
abrasive wheel,

Further sharpening it while
maintaining the slope profile.

She then hones the cutting edge
against a wet stone,

Tests it against a cow horn,
and then hones it again.

This last step
makes the edge razor-sharp.

She immerses the blades
in chalk,

Which absorbs moisture
to prevent rusting.

She now strokes the cutting edge
against a leather strap.

This is called stropping.

It gives the blade
its final polish.

And now she removes a single
artificial hair from a bundle

And confirms
that this straight razor

Is sharp enough
to slice it in two.

It takes a total
of 80 different steps

To manufacture a straight razor.

We've just shown you
the highlights.

Properly maintained, a straight
razor should last for decades.

Narrator: it's common
to many european cultures.

The french call it
"boudin noir."

The spanish call it "morcilla."

The italians call it
"sanguinaccio."

And in the united kingdom,
they call it "black pudding."

What is it?

A savory dish made from pigs'
blood and other ingredients.

In england, ireland,
scotland, and wales,

Black pudding is typically
served sliced and fried

As part
of a traditional breakfast.

Its roots are in ancient times,
when people wouldn't waste

Any part of a slaughtered
animal, not even its blood.

Black pudding also contains
several dry ingredients --

Barley...

Allspice...

Dried onions...

Spices and other seasonings...

And wheat flour.

The pigs' blood
is also in dried form.

They begin by filling
cotton bags with barley

And submerging them
in boiling water overnight.

The bags are porous,
so the barley absorbs the water,

Swelling and softening
as it cooks.

Once the barley is ready,

They drain the water out
of the cook tank...

Then cut open the bags and empty
the cooked barley into a tub.

The barley
and other dry ingredients

Will make up about a third
of the pudding mix.

Another third
is the pigs' blood;

And the last third, meat fat.

They boil pork fat
in a cook tank for two hours.

Then they strain out the water
and transfer the fat to a tub.

In another cook tank, they boil
smoked-bacon fat for two hours.

Then they scoop out
and strain that fat

And drop it into a bin, as well.

The scraps of meat
clinging to the pieces of fat

Will give the black pudding
extra flavor.

Next, workers empty the two bins
of fat into a mincer.

Then they take dried onions

And hydrate them with stock
from the smoked-bacon cook tank.

This produces gravy.

They pour this gravy,
along with the cooked barley,

Into the mincer.

Next, they add the flour
and mince some more.

And then the dried pigs' blood.

Besides turning the ingredients
a rich color,

The blood makes black pudding a
rich source of iron and protein.

They mince the ingredients
until the mixture is smooth.

Then they transfer it
to the stuffing line.

A worker pumps a specific
quantity into a nylon casing,

Then staples each end
of the casing closed.

This is the 7 1/2 pound
retail size.

The factory also packages
larger formats

For restaurants, delicatessens,
and caterers.

From the stuffing line,

The black puddings
go into a steam cooker.

Once their internal temperature
reaches 185 degrees fahrenheit,

Which takes about two hours,
they come out of the oven.

They're textured now like
a dense chocolate pudding.

After cooling overnight,

Each black pudding
goes into a printed plastic bag.

A vacuum machine
sucks out all the air,

And heat seals the package.

This improves
the product's shelf life.

From there, the puddings drop
into a tank of hot water.

This shrinks the plastic package
tightly around the casing.

Even within the same country,

Black pudding recipes
vary by region.

This smooth-textured pudding
is typical of eastern scotland.

In western scotland, they
use oatmeal instead of barley,

And, in northern england,

They use big, usually visible,
chunks of fat,

Both producing a black pudding

That's coarser in texture
but equally delicious.

Narrator:
the earliest automobiles
used a tiller for steering.

That's a lever
attached to a rudder.

The first steering wheel
appeared in 1894,

In a car built by
the panhard company of france.

Today, the steering wheel
is a multitasking component,

Integrating control switches
and the driver's-side air bag.

A car steering wheel
looks simple enough --

A stylish ring with a horn
in the middle

And switches to operate
the cruise control

And other functions.

Yet despite this simplicity,
a steering-wheel design

Undergoes years
of development and testing

For safety, durability,
appearance, and function.

The manufacturing process

Begins with the armature,
the internal support structure.

It's made of either
aluminum or magnesium --

Strong yet lightweight metals.

The factory's die-casting system

Injects the hot, molten metal
into an armature-shaped mold.

Once the metal solidifies,

The machine ejects the casting
from the mold.

The metal is still hot.

So a robot arm
moves the cast armature

To a cooling area,
where cold air blows on it.

They remove the excess metal

Left over
from the casting process

In one strike
with a trimming die.

And with that,
the armature is finished,

And the steering-wheel assembly
can begin.

First, a robot installs
four rivets,

The contact points
for the horn system.

When you press to honk the horn,
the rivets complete

An electrical circuit,
enabling the horn to sound.

Next, a computer-guided engraver
marks a lot number

For quality-control tracking.

This demonstration shows
the basis of the next step.

When mixed together,

These two polyurethane chemicals
react to each other

And produce an expanding foam.

By guiding this expansion
within the confines of a mold,

One can make this dense foam
assume a specific shape,

Such as that
of a steering wheel.

The process is called
reaction injection molding.

They coat the mold cavity
with a release agent

To prevent sticking,
place the armature inside,

Then inject
the polyurethane chemicals.

The chemicals react,

And the foam instantly expands
within the mold cavity,

Encasing the armature.

Prior to injection,

They also sprayed the mold
cavity with protective paint.

It tints the foam the required
color -- in this case, black.

It also protects the foam
against wear and u.v. Damage.

The injection-molding process

Leaves excess polyurethane
on the steering wheel.

So the next step
is to trim it off.

With the steering-wheel
structure complete,

It's now time to install
the components.

These switches control

The features operable
from the steering wheel.

Workers assemble them
into housings called finishers.

The finishers are molded out
of plastic resin,

Then coated with metallic paint
for a high-end look.

The switch wiring

Has already been assembled into
a unit called a wire harness.

They connect the harness
to the switches

And install it
onto the steering wheel.

Then they check that
everything functions properly.

And if it does,
they mark the assembly

To show that it passes
this stage of quality control.

After applying
a bar-code sticker,

They route the wiring
through the steering wheel

To prepare it for final assembly

On the automaker's
assembly line.

Next, they install
spring mechanisms.

These support
the air-bag module,

Enabling it to move in and out
when you sound the horn.

Then they attach the horn plate,
to which the carmaker

Will later attach the
driver's-side air-bag module.

They take the ground wire
and the wire harness

And position it...

Then flip the steering wheel
and secure the switch finishers

To the exposed back
of the armature.

Then they install a back cover
made of plastic resin,

The color matching
the rest of the steering wheel.

A robot arm equipped
with a camera

Performs a thorough
quality-control inspection.

While the basics are the same,

Features vary
from model to model.

Higher-end steering wheels
are wrapped in leather

And often have
extra switch controls

For the audio system and for
hands-free use of a cellphone.

Narrator:
people have always used color
as a means of expression.

Prehistoric man created paint

From a mix of dirt
and animal fat or spit.

Over the centuries,

Pigment production has become
a lot more sophisticated.

Chemical manufacturing produces
synthetic mineral pigments

To add color
to the products in our world.

From pavers to paint
to plastic and cosmetics,

This is where the color
comes from --

Synthetic mineral pigments.

They start with a salt recycled
from the steel industry.

In this case, it's iron sulfate,
which has a bluish-green hue.

They add warm water, and they're
ready for the next ingredient --

High-quality scrap.

It's another source of iron,

And it's about to be recycled
into pigment.

Crane claws
transfer it to the mix.

Chemicals are added.

Every so often,

A technician scrutinizes
a sample of the yellow slurry.

If he decides the color
or thickness aren't quite right,

Adjustments will be made.

The slurry now flows
over a perforated metal drum

With a filter cloth
stretched across it.

As a spray of water
rinses off the salt,

The fluid in the yellow slurry

Is sucked through the filter
cloth and into the drum,

Leaving a more concentrated
pigment on the surface,

Called filter cake.

The filter cake falls in chunks
onto a screw conveyor

And ends up at the top
of a towering spray dryer.

Inside, machinery presses
the highly concentrated pigment

Through the holes
of a rotating disk.

This causes a spray of droplets

That, when exposed to hot air,
dries into pigment particles.

This yellow pigment
is now ready to be mixed

Into an emulsion paint
for coloring wallpaper.

A generous amount
can produce a bolder shade.

A little less,
and it's more mellow yellow.

To make black pigment, they
start with cast-iron filings,

Another form
of automotive scrap.

This magnetic crane transfers
the filings for production,

And, again, it will take
a chemical reaction

To produce the pigment slurry.

The chemical reaction
also generates energy

That's recovered and used
in the manufacturing process.

They wash and thicken the black
slurry on a revolving drum,

Just like they did
for the yellow pigment,

But this thick paste won't just
be used to make black pigment.

It will also be used
to make red.

For the dramatic conversion
to red,

The paste flows directly
into a kiln,

Where it's baked until dry.

They introduce air
and increase the temperature

To more than


Making the black particle
turn red.

They transfer the red pigment
to a drum,

Where they mix the pigment
and adjust the color properties.

They then grind it
to a finer consistency.

Once the pigment
is packaged in paper bags,

It's ready for transport
or warehousing.

Like sugar,

Pigment comes in both
a powdered and granulated form.

This demonstration shows
the difference between the two.

The powdered pigment
is more clumpy

And doesn't flow
from the open end of the beaker.

By contrast,
the granular pigments

Are tiny micro beads
that flow freely,

Which makes it desirable

For users who want to mix
and meter pigments more easily.

To test how the pigment
would color brick,

They mix red pigment
with a concrete substitute

And compared the result
to the standard

To confirm that they match up.

But sometimes they need
a real concrete example

Of a pigment's color tone.

So they add a small amount
to a mixer full of aggregate --

Water and cement.

The mixer rotates,

And once the ingredients
are thoroughly blended,

They open the lid
to reveal the red brick paste.

They scoop it up for transfer
to a brick-forming machine...

And then fill brick forms
with the paste.

They activate a plunger
that tamps it down

To compact it into the forms,
producing bricks.

Red, black, or yellow,

These pigments are sure to make
things more colorful.

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